Match Preview: Isthmian League South Central Division
Chipstead FC Vs Basingstoke Town
When: Saturday 5th February 2022 Kick-off 3pm
Where: NRT Stadium, High Road Chipstead CR5 3SF
Chipstead FC (Nickname – The Sparks), Average 2021-22 Home Attendance 99
Adults £10, Concessions (OAPs & 16-18 year-olds with student/uni. ID) £7, 5-16-year-olds £3, Under 5’s Free
Following our controlled and deserved one-nil win at South Park on Tuesday evening, we head back out on the same M25 route this time to Chipstead FC.
Basingstoke in the reverse fixture hosted Chipstead at Winklebury back in early October, with the Chips sitting in seventh place. On the day a brace of goals by Conor Lynch, with just one reply from then Chip forward Tom Collins, was enough for Stoke to pick up all three points. Four months on the Chips have slipped six places in the league since then.
Our Opponents
The Chips are managed by Rob Kember, who took over in April 2019, and is well known for his playing career that included Crystal Palace, Woking and our own Basingstoke Town, as well as half a dozen other clubs. His assistant Rob Smith, also played for Crystal Palace & Woking, and was assistant Manager at Merstham prior to joining Chipstead.
The Chips who currently sit in (13th), place, have had an up-and-down season, where they have done well against teams above them, which includes last weeks deserved 4-2 win at Chertsey Town, and with their 2-2 draw back in November that’s 4 points out of 6, add a point against Marlow too, and it’s clear they are able to compete against the top teams.
However, they still have an overall record of PLD 22 Won 5 Drawn 7 Lost 10 GF 34 GA 39 Pts 22. It is also clear that that they are tough to beat at home, having just lost twice out of 10 games (Northwood & Staines Town) and both of those were back in late November & early December.
Their slip down the league may have something to do with the loss of the league’s current leading goal-scorer Tom Collins who departed at the end of October. At that time he scored thirteen goals, eleven in the league, and he is still the clubs leading scorer this season.
Since Collins departure to Hanwell, 31 year-old midfielder Kieran Lavery has taken over the goal-scoring, as well as the penalty taking, and he now has ten goals on the season. Lavery joined from Horsham this season, having previously played at South Park, and repaid the Sparks with a hat-trick (two via the spot), at the end of December.
Forward Andy Kabuikusomo (22), now has seven goals, five in the league and joined from Croydon FC this season. Experienced fellow forward Sam Bell (30), has also added recent goals, two in last week’s victory and now has four on the season, having previously played for Lingfield Town, Stafford Rangers & Sutton Coldfield.
Their midfielders apart from Lavery, are another experienced player in 30 year-old Daniel Moody, who can play either side of midfield and his previous clubs also include South Park.
They also have 21 year-old Kofi Anokye-Boadi, who has plenty of pace. There is also Jack Beadle who rejoined from Hanwell Town recently, & has previously played at Uxbridge too, and is an attack-minded midfielder.
In defence, is experienced defender and captain of the team Chris Boulter. Boulter has two goals on the season, and joined from nearby Dorking Wanderers.
He is joined at the back with 21 year-old Simeon Dennis who can play at the back or midfield, who joined from Whyteleafe after they folded during pre-season. Add dependable defender Michak Stanic-Stewart who can play full-back or a centre-half.
In goal is Matt Kerbey (19) who was a member of Sutton United’s squad which won promotion to League 2 in May 2021, whilst goalkeeping coach David Wilkinson is the current back-up when needed.
Your Basingstoke Town Side
Well following back-to-back wins & clean sheets, we head back along the M25 to the tiny village of Chipstead, with hopes that a third successful win and other results going our way, could solidify our playoff position.
The win at South Park, which was hard fought, but well deserved, leaves us with a record of PLD 22 Won 13 Drawn 5 Lost 4 GF 47 GA 34 Pts 44
Conor Lynch with Stefan Brown were both held scoreless at South Park, but with 26 goals combined will look to add to that tomorrow.
It was pleasing that Bradley Wilson got back on the scoresheet with a neat finish early on and he will look to build on his 11 goals on the season.
With D’Andre Brown now fit and available, this gives Manager Dan Brownlie a number of options and decisions on who and how he wants to set-up.
Assuming no injuries were picked up from last night’s training and that all players are available, then Simon Dunn will lead the team, and Anton Rodgers rested on Tuesday is likely to earn a slot as well. This leaves Ben Cook & George Reid as the likely other starters, with Mckoy Palmer, D’Andre Brown, as well as Jack French available to come off the bench.
It appears that Shaun Dallimore is out for longer than expected and Lloyd Snell is on loan at Tadley. The good news is that James Haworth who trained last night is back available, so assuming he wins his left back role, then Nathan Smart, Robert Sheridan & Daryl Wollers will fight out the two centre-back roles. Dan Williamson should be at right back once more.
With Paul Strudley back and holding South Park, he will have the No.1 jersey once again.
Although there are still 14 games for Stoke to play and with us back on a winning run, fans will expect that we can claim all three points tomorrow.
However, as stated Chipstead will be tough on their own park and we will need to be at our best across all phases of the pitch.
Hope to see as many of you at the game, even if the ground is in the middle of nowhere.
Match Preview by Martin French.
English 
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